8/30 Florida 21 Southern Mississippi 6
| In a game that
seemed to never end with pathetic offense and great
defense, the Florida Gators proved that their defense is
what will shine this year as Sophomore QB Doug Johnson
threw for 2 touchdowns and ran the last one in from the 2
yard line. However, he threw for three interceptions,
which against mighty teams like Tennessee or LSU will
cost the Gators the game. Fortunately, the Gator defense
came up with three turnovers deep in their own territory
to hold Southern Miss. and stop them before they scored.
They held So. Miss. to one score. The Gators looked terrible in this game and need to improve if they want to make a run at the SEC title this year. Johnson was 17-of-34 for 231 yards, while Fred Taylor had 101 yards on 19 carries for the Gators. The 21 points was the lowest total by Gators in a season opener since a 24-19 loss to Ole Miss in 1989. This was the last year before the fun-and-gun and Spurrier arrived at The Swamp. Under Spurrier, Florida is 50-0 against unranked opponents, 60-0 when holding the opposition to 21 points or less, and 36-1 with a 100-yard rusher. This game turned out to be a real challenge for the Gators, but at least we did not loose to this "giant killer" like Georgia, Alabama, and fsu did in season openers against USM. Southern Miss. proved to be a formidable opponent that has their hands full as now they face Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama all away in hostile crowds. I am glad we survived this one. Now lets get ready for Central Michigan. |
Game Summary
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |||||
| SO. MISSISSIPPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| FLORIDA | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Scoring Summary
1ST QTR: FLA - TD, JAMIE RICHARDSON 25 YD PASS
FROM DOUG JOHNSON
(COLLINS COOPER KICK), 9:10
2ND QTR: FLA - TD, JACQUEZ GREEN 18 YD PASS FROM
DOUG JOHNSON
(COLLINS COOPER KICK), 13:27
3RD QTR: FLA - TD, DOUG JOHNSON 2 YD RUN
(COLLINS COOPER KICK),
12:14
4TH QTR: SOMS - TD, TODD PINKSTON 13 YD PASS
FROM LEE ROBERTS (PAT
FAILED), 5:35
Boxscore
| So Mississippi | Florida | |
| First downs | 12 | 22 |
| Rushed-yards | 23-26 | 40-126 |
| Passing yards | 131 | 231 |
| Sacked-yards lost | 5-33 | 3-21 |
| Return yards | 111 | 43 |
| Passes | 15-33-2 | 17-34-3 |
| Punts | 6-41.2 | 6-36.5 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-72 | 12-74 |
| Time of possession | 25:38 | 34:22 |
Individual Statistics - RUSHING
| So Mississippi | Shaw 11-30, Booth 4-18, Bolware 3-11,Roberts 5-minus 33. |
| Florida | Taylor 19-101, Mccaslin 8-23, Carroll 2-16, T Jackson 6-5, Green 1-1, D Johnson 4-minus 20. |
Individual Statistics - PASSING
| So Mississippi | Roberts 15-33-2-131. |
| Florida | 17-34-3-231. |
RECEIVING:
| So Mississippi | Shaw 6-42, Gideon 3-18, H Shaw 2-31, B Francis 2-15, Pinkston 1-13, Walls 1-12. |
| Florida | Florida-Green 8-81, Richardson 3-54, Kinney 3-39, T Jackson 2-28, Carroll 1-29. |
Attendance at The Swamp: 85,439
| Last Updated November 19, 2006 |